Smokestack victim wasn't intoxicated

Updated 1:46 am, Friday, October 26, 2012

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At the bottom of the Pearl Brewery smokestack where Inocencio Victor Rodriguez-Diaz, 31, was found dead in August, officials found his hardhat, shoes, a brick he may have fell on and trash - empty bottles, cans and cups. Rodriguez-Diaz fell down the smokestack from an enclosed walkway, which Pearl officials say was barricaded off and not accessible for construction workers. Rodriguez-Diaz likely fell to his death on his first day as a roofer at the former boiler house and was found a week later. Photo by the Bexar County Medical Examiner's office.

At the bottom of the Pearl Brewery smokestack where Inocencio Victor Rodriguez-Diaz, 31, was found dead in August, officials found his hardhat, shoes, a brick he may have fell on and trash - empty bottles, cans

At the bottom of the Pearl Brewery smokestack where Inocencio Victor Rodriguez-Diaz, 31, was found dead in August, officials found his hardhat, shoes, a brick he may have fell on and trash - empty bottles, cans and cups. Rodriguez-Diaz fell down the smokestack from an enclosed walkway, which Pearl officials say was barricaded off and not accessible for construction workers. Rodriguez-Diaz likely fell to his death on his first day as a roofer at the former boiler house and was found a week later. Photo by the Bexar County Medical Examiner's office.

At the bottom of the Pearl Brewery smokestack where Inocencio Victor Rodriguez-Diaz, 31, was found dead in August, officials found his hardhat, shoes, a brick he may have fell on and trash - empty bottles, cans

Crime scene investigators with the San Antonio Police Department photograph and videotape the scene on Aug. 21, when a roofer was found dead in the bottom of the Pearl Brewery smokestack. Inocencio Victor Rodriguez-Diaz, 31, fell down the smokestack from an enclosed walkway, which Pearl officials say was barricaded off and not accessible to construction workers. Rodriguez-Diaz likely fell to his death on his first day at the former boiler house and was found a week later. Photo by the Bexar County Medical Examiner's office.

Crime scene investigators with the San Antonio Police Department photograph and videotape the scene on Aug. 21, when a roofer was found dead in the bottom of the Pearl Brewery smokestack. Inocencio Victor

Inocencio Victor Rodriguez-Diaz, 31, fell from this enclosed walkway down about 20 feet to the bottom of the Pearl Brewery smokestack in August. He was found dead on Aug. 21, one week after he disappeared on his first day working as a roofer at the former boiler house. Pearl officials have said the walkway was inaccessible to workers and was barricaded off; a wooden barricade can be seen where the walkway meets the smokestack. Photo by the Bexar County Medical Examiner's office.

Inocencio Victor Rodriguez-Diaz, 31, fell from this enclosed walkway down about 20 feet to the bottom of the Pearl Brewery smokestack in August. He was found dead on Aug. 21, one week after he disappeared on

Diagram shows the scene at the Pearl Brewery, where a body was found Aug. 21 inside the smokestack.

Diagram shows the scene at the Pearl Brewery, where a body was found Aug. 21 inside the smokestack.

Photo: Mike Fisher

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Nereo Diaz, 23, left to right, Elda Diaz, 24, and Luci Diaz, 21, siblings of Victor Diaz, whose body was found in the Pearl Brewery smokestack, hold a photo of him in at Nereo's house. The family is from Chiapas. Wednesday, August 22, 2012.

Nereo Diaz, 23, left to right, Elda Diaz, 24, and Luci Diaz, 21, siblings of Victor Diaz, whose body was found in the Pearl Brewery smokestack, hold a photo of him in at Nereo's house. The family is from

Pictured is the door leading out of the bottom of the smokestack. Other workers said they saw flies around the door and said they smelled a strong odor.

Pictured is the door leading out of the bottom of the smokestack. Other workers said they saw flies around the door and said they smelled a strong odor.

Photo: Bob Owen

Smokestack victim wasn't intoxicated

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Autopsy results show Inocencio Victor Rodriguez-Diaz, a roofer who fell to his death in the Pearl Brewery smokestack this summer, wasn't intoxicated or under the influence of drugs when he died.

However, many questions about the case remain unanswered.

In particular, the autopsy report doesn't explain how the 31-year-old Mexican national got into a large vent that connects a building being renovated to the red brick smokestack or why he went through the passage, then fell 17 feet.

“We don't believe they had the proper barricades in place,” said attorney Fidel Rodriguez Jr., who's representing the family of Rodriguez-Diaz in a lawsuit against Tin Star Contractors and its subcontractor, Celestino Cervantes, for whom the deceased roofer worked. “It was never closed off.”

Photos taken by the Bexar County medical examiner's office on Aug. 21, when the body was found, show there was trash in the smokestack. Although it's unknown how long the trash had been there, it could indicate the vent was accessible at the time of Rodriguez-Diaz's death.

Rodriguez-Diaz disappeared from Cervantes' work site at the Boiler House on his first day and was found one week later after flies and the smell of decay led workers to open a small metal door at the base of the smokestack that was padlocked shut.

The body was covered in a thick layer of dust and was bloated, blistering and being eaten by maggots, the investigative report states.

Fully clothed, Rodriguez-Diaz had $159 in his pocket and a safety harness in his hand, and his tennis shoes and hard hat were near his body.

A cinderblock that he may have fallen on top of was also noted, as were “multiple empty water bottles, Styrofoam cups and aluminum cans,” according to the report.

The autopsy concluded Rodriguez-Diaz had skull and rib fractures and died of blunt-force injuries to the head. His death was ruled an accident, but the official report didn't tie up many loose ends for his relatives.

“The only way you could get into that vent is through the elevator shaft, which was barricaded off by 2-by-4 barricades and a 4-by-8 sheet of plywood that someone would have to climb over,” Aspy said. “Then, you would have to climb up about 2 feet to the vent. We don't have any idea how he got in there. You don't accidentally stumble into it.”

He said he hadn't yet seen the medical examiner's photos and wasn't sure why there was trash inside if the 15-foot-long slanted passage was inaccessible, as he and Pearl Brewery officials have said.

A spokeswoman for the Pearl Brewery and a lawyer for general contractor Metropolitan Contracting Co. declined to comment, citing litigation. Neither is named in the lawsuit. OSHA still is investigating the death, a spokesman said.

Speculating, Aspy said he doubted workers looking for a place to relieve themselves would have gone through the trouble to get inside the vent, and there were restrooms in more accessible locations.

After reading the toxicology report, he wondered if alcohol found in Rodriguez-Diaz's body meant the roofer had been drinking before the fall.

“Is he trying to find a cool place to sit down and hide? I don't know. I can't think of any good reason for him to be there,” Aspy said.

According to former Bexar County Chief Medical Examiner Vincent DiMaio, who often testifies as an expert witness in court, the blood alcohol content of 0.036 detected in the dead man's muscle tissue likely was caused by the process of decay.

“Would I say that it is all due to decomposition? Yes,” DiMaio said. “You're full of bacteria, and the bacteria don't die; it keeps reproducing. One of the byproducts of bacteria reproducing is that many of them produce alcohol.”